Cross cultural understanding: a handbook to understand others’ cultures

Crooked 
Finger: 
In 
today's 
(Western) society, the "crooked 
finger" is seen as a somewhat 
impolite hand gesture. Almost 
exclusively a superior-to-subordinate 
(senior-junior, parent-to-child) hand 
gesture, it has arrogance about it. It is 
also used for summoning a waiter 
and, in some countries; it is used 
exclusively 
for 
calling-over 
a 
prostitute (Philippines). 

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Cross Cultural Understanding | 71 
2.
 
Body Position 
What do you think is happening here? 
Sales representative, Franz Bauer, from Germany and Jim 
Banks from Britain are in a difficult negotiation. Things are 
getting tense. Franz sits upright and is disturbed as Jim relaxes 
on his chair. Franz feels that Jim is not taking the negotiation 
seriously. Jim feels that Franz is getting more and more 
aggressive. 
 
The situation above shows how two people can 
misinterpret each other‘s behavior, and so the situation 
escalates. The German‘s upright position indicates the 
seriousness; meanwhile the Britain‘s relaxing posture in 
the chair indicates his wish to defuse the situation.
In some cultures travelers should be careful to avoid 
exposing certain parts of their body. In Arab cultures, for 
example, the sole of the foot is considered dirty, and 
should never be shown, so anyone can adopt the local 
custom of sitting on the floor, for instance, has to take 
care to avoid doing this.